Ahead of Monday night’s men’s college basketball national championship game between Connecticut and Michigan, Shaquille O’Neal joined the TNT Sports desk and his longtime Inside the NBA buddies to make an announcement.
O’Neal and TNT Sports are launching “Dunkman”, a professional dunking league.
The Dunkman League will premiere this summer on TNT with five live events, featuring 24 dunkers competing for the title of World Dunk Champion and a $500,000 first prize.
Shaquille O’Neal and TNT Sports are launching the “Dunkman” League this summer. 🏀📺🔨pic.twitter.com/DKt91Kupqp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 6, 2026
“I’d like to thank my partners,” O’Neal, the league’s founder and commissioner, said. “We did a show about eight years ago that got over 200 million hits, so then, I took that show over and called it the ‘Dunkman’ show. Then I said, ‘You know what? We need a Dunkman League.’ Since the NBA guys don’t have enough pride to give us, the fans, what we want in the dunk contest, all of these professional dunkers have been created.”
“I’ve signed up 24 players, I’m giving them five hundred thousand cash prize,” O’Neal continued. “It will be an elaborate scoring system. So, I want to see who the best dunker in the world (is)… Back when we played, the best dunker was usually the best player in the game. Now, guys that are dunking are not really good enough to play in the NBA, but they’re great dunkers.”
“Where did you find the 24?” Clark Kellogg asked.
“Online,” O’Neal explained. “Because if you go to YouTube, dunk clips are some of the most successful clips.”
“[Jordan Kilganon] started the movement,” O’Neal continued. “We got him… We’re trying to get [three-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion Mac McClung] in it. We’ve got 24 Mac McClungs.”
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.